Atlanta e-bike rebate lottery awards first round of grants

Miss out on the latest round of big-dollar rebates to purchase e-bikes in the city of Atlanta? You'll have another shot in a few weeks.

State of play: An impressive 8,888 people signed up last month in the Atlanta Regional Commission's lottery to compete for $500,000 in rebates .

• 413 people were selected for the first round, according to the ARC . $375,000 of the funding is reserved for "income eligible" applicants, or people living on low- to middle- incomes.

What's next: The ARC plans to re-open lottery applications in August and award additional rebates in September. Another lottery will be held in the fall.

Follow the money: The city of Atlanta put up the $1 million in funding fueling the program. PropelATL, a longtime e-bike rebate advocate , is helping raise awareness.

How it works: Income-eligible residents can receive a $1,500 rebate for a standard e-bike or $2,000 for a cargo e-bike.

• All other residents would qualify for a $500 rebate for a regular e-bike and $1,000 for a cargo one.

The big picture: Roughly one-third of the applicants who live on low- to middle-incomes said they did not own a car, compared to 7% of other applicants.

• About 44% of those income eligible applicants told the ARC they would use the e-bike for commuting to work.